Vermont producers propose $50 registration fee to fund pesticide collection; agency to study extended producer responsibility

Industry representatives and solid-waste managers asked officials at a public meeting on April 10 to add a $50 per-product pesticide registration fee to a special fund that would pay for collection and safe disposal of unused, obsolete and banned pesticides.

The request was presented by Margaret Lagos, a lobbyist with Primer and Piper representing the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, CropLife America and RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sustainable Environment). “We would like to see a $50 additional fee put onto our registration, our product registration, that would go into a special fund and would just create a special fund that would properly pay for the programs that the solid waste districts are running,” Lagos said.

Why it matters: Solid-waste officials said current funding no longer covers rising costs to run household hazardous waste collection programs. Jen Holiday, representing the Solid Waste District Managers Association, said hazardous-waste collection has become far more expensive and said pesticides…